Why Are So Many Minimalists Vegan?

As a youtube addict and youtuber myself with a particular favour for videos on minimalism I’ve noticed an interesting trend. So many minimalist youtubers are vegan, some even fruitarian. Likewise in the vegan youtube world, many people with primarily vegan channels have the occasional video suggesting they are living an intentionally minimalist lifestyle outside of their food choices.

Now this post isn’t going to discuss the pros and cons of a vegan diet by any means or even classify veganism because probably some of the youtubers i’m putting into this category are not ‘hard core’ enough to pass as such in the vegan community.It is also difficult to do any sort of analysis on this and the extent of this trend, it is just something i’ve sensed from watching a lot of videos. However I have a theory about this… People who are into minimalism, and particularly to the extent that they want to have a youtube channel on it, like making very intentional choices in their lives and are comfortable doing things against the norm. In reality neither minimalism or veganism can be considered the ‘norm’ in our current society.

While the people approaching minimalism first may come to it by purging unnecessary possessions, perhaps having a capsule wardrobe and less house decor etc the benefits that this has will often spread to other areas of their lives. People want to lead simpler lifestyles in other ways, for example in how they choose to make a living, how they approach relationships etc. And this can extend to they way they choose to eat. I can see that some people might argue being vegan is more minimal to the extend that it can have a lighter impact on the environment than a standard diet (provided that vegan diet isn’t composed of primarily processed vegan foods imported from far away regions). However I don’t want to argue by any means that being vegan is an important part of being minimalist. I for one am not currently vegan either and probably never truly been so by proper vegan standards. The point im trying to make is the at some people clearly interpret veganism as a more minimalist choice or at least an intentional choice they are making which they believe will improve their lives or the lives of animals and/or the environment, just like their other lifestyle choices.

Coming from the other direction as someone that starts out vegan. Well again this is someone who as thought deeply about their lifestyle choices. Especially if they are the sort of vegan that not only doesn’t eat animal products but doesn’t buy them either in the form or leather, or items processed using animal products (eg many wines). And thus such as person may be more predisposed to be interested in minimalism too. I suspect also some vegans are influenced by some of the other vegans who have got into minimalism too. This is probably truest for the fruitarian community which is rather small and most of them seem to be friends with each other. Many fruitarians are also spending enormous money on food and travel to tropical locations also so a minimalist lifestyle helps them afford their not so minimal grocery bills. it is also very difficult to own much if you are travelling a lot.

So anyway that is just some of my thoughts. I’d be very interested to hear if you are both a minimalist and vegan and where you see the connection and also if you have also noticed this trend!